Merry Go Round
by Erin T. Aardvark
Summary: Mario and the gang have to stop an evil sorceress from using a magic carousel to obtain eternal youth
1. Rubber Ball

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: I originally wrote this as a Monkees fanfic in 1998/1999 (I was still in high school then). After re-reading it, I decided to turn it into a Mario Bros. fic instead. As with my previous two Mario Bros. fanfics, this canon is the "Super Mario Bros. Super Show" version, because that's the canon I'm more used to. The Mario Bros., Princess Toadstool, Toad, and Toadette belong to Nintendo. Everyone else belongs to me. Though I should find it fair to warn you, the scenes involving the ball on the fountain were inspired by an EXTREMELY weird dream I had before I even wrote the story to begin with (as such, I couldn't tell you what happened in the dream, even if I tried)._

* * *

_Plumber's Log Number 2000_

_It was the grand opening of the Toad Town Community Park. It hadn't been open for years. Princess Toadstool, Luigi, Toad, and I, along with Toad's good friend, Toadette, helped the city fix it up, since there wasn't any place for the younger toads to go and have fun._

* * *

"This is great," Toad said. "I haven't seen the old park look this good."

"Yeah," Toadette replied. "Thanks for helping us fix the place up, Princess Toadstool."

"You're welcome, Toadette," Princess Toadstool said. "But we couldn't have done it without Mario and Luigi!"

"Think nothing of it, Princess!" Mario said. "After all, every kid deserves a nice park to play in!"

"Though this is a lot nicer than the parks Mario and I used to play in when we were bambinos in Brooklyn," Luigi pointed out.

That happened to be true. The park featured a large playground with swings, slides, see-saws, monkey bars, and a jungle gym. There were also tennis courts, a soccer field, a baseball diamond, picnic areas, bicycle paths, and a garden area. There was even enough room in the park to house a small zoo. A miniature train ran through the park to get to one area to the next. It passed through every fifteen minutes. The buildings had been given new coats of paint, and the water fountains had been fixed. The only thing that was a mystery was a small fountain which resembled a bird bath with a red rubber ball balancing on a spout of water.

"That's a little weird," Luigi said, once he saw it. "Why'd you have the builders put that in, bro?"

"I didn't," Mario said. "I thought it had always been there."

"No it hadn't," Toadette said.

"Yeah, dude," Toad replied. "Toadette and I have been coming to this park since we were little spore-lets, and this is the first time I've ever seen that fountain!"

"Sure makes an interesting conversation piece, doesn't it?" Mario asked.

While our heroes were trying to figure out where the fountain had come from, and why a red rubber ball was balancing on it in the first pace, a group of Toad children came into the park. They ran around until they got to the soccer field.

"Let's play kickball!" one of them said.

"Where are we gonna get a ball?" another asked.

"There's one on the bird bath," the first said. He ran over to the fountain and grabbed the ball. Suddenly, it jerked from his hands and hit him on the head.

"MOMMY!" he screamed as he ran in another direction.

"What in the world?" Luigi asked.

"The ball's gone bananas," Toad said.

"We'd better put it back," Mario said.

Mario, Luigi, and Toad lunged for the ball, but the ball bounced away from them, and the three of them ended up running into each other and hitting their heads together.

"Oooh!" Luigi shouted.

"Ouch!" Mario yelled.

"Owwwwww!" Toad whined.

Once the boys got their wits back, they saw the ball, bouncing around like crazy. Mario jumped, and managed to catch it, but it began bouncing around in his hands, and wrenched itself loose.

"Aw nuts!" he shouted.

"Toad, grab it!" the Princess called. "It's coming right to you!"

Toad grabbed it, and tried to hold on as tightly as he could, but the ball turned out to be too heavy for him. It dragged him along with it, as it zoomed ahead.

"Whoa!" he shouted. He was forced to let go when the ball began to attempt to shake him off.

Toadette went for the ball next. She was standing in front of Luigi and the ball was coming directly to them, at an extremely fast pace. Scared, Toadette ducked, and the ball smacked Luigi right in the face.

"Ooh, my nose!" he shouted, pinching his nose with his fingers. "I hope it's not broken!"

"It's like that thing has a mind of it's own!" the Princess shouted. "Luigi, which way did it go?"

"Thatta way," Luigi replied, pointing. "If anybody needs me, I'll be applying armor to my body."

"Come on!" Mario shouted, grabbing his brother's arm, and dragged him in the direction the ball went. Pretty soon, the Bros. and Toad were surrounding it.

"You're not going anywhere, bucko!" Mario shouted.

The boys grabbed the ball. It started bouncing, while they were hanging onto it. Then it started to spin.

"Augh!" Mario shouted.

"Hey, where's the off switch?" Toad asked.

"Whooooaaaa!" Luigi cried.

The ball finally shook the boys off and bounced off. It stopped on top of the fence above the baseball field.

"Who's gonna get it?" Toadette asked.

"I'll get it," Toad said. "And once I do, I'll deflate it!"

Toad started to climb the fence. Before he could get to the ball, it bounced off. Toad groaned.

"Hey, Luigi!" he yelled. "Rubber ball at three o' clock!"

"Three o' clock?" Luigi asked, checking his watch. "It's not three o' clock. It's only five after . . . oof!"

The ball smacked Luigi on the side of the head when he wasn't looking. Then, the ball zoomed into Mario's stomach, and pushed him into the wall.

"Mario, are you okay?" the Princess asked.

"Never better," Mario said, in a strained voice.

The ball bounced around some more. Toad and the Bros. dove for it. Mario and Luigi ran directly into each other. Toad got close to it and tried to grab it, but it whirled around. He twisted his upper body and ended up falling. Mario managed to get his wits back, chased the ball, and ran into a nearby wall.

"Ouch," Luigi said, sympathetically.

"I got it!" Toadette shouted.

"I got it!" Toad called.

The two of them cried "I got it" a couple more times and ran into each other.

"Ow!" Toad shouted.

"Aaahhh!" Toadette yelled.

"So much for _that_ attempt!" Mario said.

The ball bounced along. Our heroes went chasing it again. The Bros. cornered it, right next to the train tracks. Just as they were about to reach out and grab it, the ball moved It beaned Mario in the face, bounced off Luigi's head, and bounced down the tracks.

"Nuts!" Luigi shouted.

"Well, there's only one thing to do now," Mario said, as the train came into the station. "The ol' Mitch Miller routine."

"What's the ol' Mitch Miller routine?" the Princess asked, as she, Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Toadette climbed into the train.

"Follow the bouncing ball," Mario said. "What else?"


	2. Follow the Bouncing Ball

Our heroes kept a lookout for the rogue rubber ball while the train made their way down the tracks. They still couldn't figure out what the ball was doing, and where it came from.

"I wonder if King Koopa has anything to do with this?" Luigi asked.

"I don't know," Mario said. "This doesn't really seem like his style. A little too juvenile for him, I think."

"We'd just better find it before it hurts someone, or does some major damage," the Princess said.

"There it goes!" Toadette called out. "It's going into the zoo!"

"Everybody split up," Mario said, as the train stopped at the entrance to the park zoo. "One of us is bound to find the ball. Princess, you, Toad, and Toadette go left. Luigi and I will go right."

"Right," the others said.

The group split up in order to search. The Princess, Toad and Toadette were the first to spot the ball. It was laying in a cage, directly next to a large Bengal tiger.

"Let's go!" Toad shouted.

"But, Toad, it's in the tiger's cage!" the Princess shouted.

"How else are we gonna get the ball if we don't go in?" Toad asked.

"Okay," Toadette said. "But we have to be real careful."

Toad was about to reach into the cage to grab the ball. It bounced around, and hit Toad on the head. Then it bounced away, getting away before Toadette and the Princess could go after it.

"I hope Mario and Luigi are having better luck than we are," the Princess said.

As a matter of fact, Mario and Luigi were having worse luck! The ball bounced around and finally made its way to the giraffe's cage. It was perched on the head of the tallest giraffe.

"Holy ravioli!" Luigi shouted. "How are we gonna get it now?"

"We go in there and climb that tree," Mario said, pointing to a tree nearby.

Mario started climbing the tree, however, the giraffe happened to choose the leaves of that tree for his lunch.

"I hope that giraffe doesn't bite into that branch," Luigi said.

And with their rotten luck, the giraffe bit into the branch Mario was sitting on, trying to get the ball.

"Uh oh," he said. Then, he fell to the ground. The ball bounced off.

"After it!" he shouted, climbing up another tree in order to get out.

"Maybe the Princess, Toad, and Toadette are having better luck," Luigi said.

When the Princess and the two Toads reached the bird house, they found the ball. They cornered the it outside a vulture's cage.

"That thing makes me nervous," Toadette said.

"Yeah, let's just grab the ball and get going!" Toad shouted.

Toad and Toadette reached for the ball. The vulture screeched and started flapping his wings, and kicking his feet. The Toads screamed, and retreated from the cage, scratched and bruised. The ball just bounced outside.

"Apparently, that ball has a sick sense of humor," Toad said.

"There it goes," the Princess said. "It's heading for the sea mammal exhibit."

"That's Mario and Luigi's territory," Toad said. "Hopefully, they'll get it!"

At that moment, Mario was climbing the fence behind a tank with a beluga whale, looking around, hoping the ball was in the near vicinity.

"There it is!" Luigi called.

"Where?" Mario asked.

The ball zoomed forward, and hit the red-clad plumber in the back of the head.

"Why you little . . ." Mario growled, reaching for the ball.

"Watch out, Mario!" Luigi yelled, as Mario started to climb up to the top of the fence. "That could be dangerous!"

Mario lunged toward the ball, but that move turned out to be a big mistake.

"Oops," he said, while in mid air. Then, he plunged downward. "Whoooooaaaa!"

Mario landed in the tank. He emerged spitting water out of his mouth.

"Yuck!" he shouted. "I wonder how deep this tank is?"

"Probably ten or twelve feet deep," Luigi said. "I'd help you out, but I can't reach you from here."

"Oh, thanks a lot," Mario said, sarcastically. "I'll just swim. If I don't end up with hypothermia first. This water's freezing!"

Suddenly, the whale appeared right behind Mario, but he didn't notice it at first. Luckily, Luigi did.

"Ma-ma-ma-mario . . . . ." he said, nervously.

"What is it, Luigi?" Mario asked.

Luigi just stammered nervously, and pointed. Mario gave his brother a weird look, and turned around to see what Luigi was pointing at. When he saw the white whale behind him, his eyes nearly popped out of his head.

"Nice boy," he said, a little nervously. "Don't mind me, I just dropped in by accident. What do you say you help me get back on dry land?"

The whale nodded, and Mario climbed onto his back. Once at the edge of the tank, Mario climbed off the whale, walked over to another fence, and climbed over.

"Thanks, paisano," he said, wringing out his cap. "Listen, have you seen a red rubber ball come by this way?"

The whale clicked, and pointed with his fin. The Bros. ran off, and regrouped with the Princess and the two Toads at the train.

"What happened to you, Mario?" the Princess asked. "You're soaked!"

"Don't ask," Mario said. "Let's just go find that stupid ball."

"There it is!" Toad called.

The ball bounced down the train tracks, and into a tunnel. The group hopped on the train, trying to follow the ball as closely as possible. It was a good thing the tunnel had lights or else they'd never be able to find it.

"Uh oh," Mario said.

"What?" Luigi asked.

"The ball just bounced into a tunnel I've never noticed before," Mario said. "Not to mention we're on a track that wasn't here when we set the train up, either!"

"That's weird," Toadette said. "This train runs automatically! How can that happen?"

"Who cares?" Toad asked. "Let's just get that stupid ball and get this over with!"

The train continued moving, following the ball, though not knowing why they were still doing so. While they were on the move, the train suddenly began to pick up speed.

"Is it me, or is this thing moving faster?" Luigi asked.

"It's not just you," Toad said.

"What's going on?" the Princess asked.

"I don't know," Mario said, "but at least we're catching up to that ball!"

The train began to move faster and faster, until our heroes were almost right on top of the ball. The ball finally stopped, and the train was heading for a dead end.

"Mario!" Luigi shouted. "Put on the brakes!"

"I can't!" Mario shouted. "It's an automatic pilot driven train! It doesn't have brakes!"

"Use the emergency brake!" the Princess shouted.

Mario grabbed onto the train's emergency brake, and pulled, but it was stuck. It wasn't going to move for anything.

"I think the emergency brake is broken," he said. "I can't stop!"

"This could hurt," Toad said.

Our heroes braced themselves for the impact. The crashed through the wall, and derailed. Thankfully, since it was only a kiddie train, it didn't cause much damage, except the boys were thrown from it, and onto a mound of grass.

"Ooh, I think I hit my head!" Luigi moaned, rubbing the side of his head.

"Yeah, on my head!" Toad replied, rubbing the top of his head.

"Is everybody okay?" the Princess asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Toadette said. The others nodded in agreement.

When everybody was finally on their feet, they went ball hunting. Toadette spotted it over a hill.

"Let's go catch it!" she shouted.

"Right," Mario said.

"Wait a minute!" Toad shouted. "Could somebody please tell me why we're running after this thing?"

Our heroes stopped, and looked at each other. It was true, they didn't have the slightest idea why they were running after a red rubber ball, that apparently had a mind of it's own. The ball came back and slammed Mario in the side of the head, knocking him off his feet.

"That ball apparently has a cruel streak," he said. "And that's a good enough reason for me!"


	3. Equine

Our heroes ran after the ball as fast as they could. It finally stopped in a tiny village, and was just sitting there. Mario advanced slowly toward it. He grabbed it suddenly.

"Gotcha!" he shouted. Unfortunately, the ball gave out an electrical shock. Mario screamed and let go immediately.

"What kind of a ball is that anyway?" Toad asked.

"It'll definitely rival the ball they drop in Times Square on New Years Eve," Luigi said.

The ball spun in one spot. The others just stared at it, as if it went crazy. It finally turned into a crystal ball.

"This is totally crazy," Toad said.

"You said it," Mario said. "What is this thing, anyway? And where are we? And what are we doing here?"

"Maybe I can answer," a voice said. The group turned around and saw an old man with a long white beard. He was wearing a red robe and pointed hat covered with stars.

"And who are you?" Mario asked.

"First things first, my friend," the wizard said. "That is a magic crystal ball. You are in Equine, and you are here to help us out. I sent the ball to bring you here. My name is Harliman, and I am a wizard."

"Nice to meet you," Mario said. "Why do you need help?"

Before Harliman could say anything, a red horse with black mane ran by and came to a halt. He was followed by two younger horses, one male and one female. The male was blue with blue mane and the female was purple with purple mane.

"Wowee," Toad said.

"Did the magic ball find help?" the blue horse said.

"Yes, it most certainly did," Harliman said. "These are . . . I'm sorry. I'm afraid I don't know who you are."

"I'm Mario," Mario said, and then he pointed to the others. "That's my brother, Luigi, and our friends, Toad, Toadette, and Princess Toadstool of the Mushroom Kingdom. Who are you?"

"I'm Wildfire," the red horse said, "and these are Blueberry and Violet."

"Hi," Blueberry said.

"Now what do you need help with?" Mario asked.

"Almost all of the horses in Equine have gone missing," Violet said. "We think it has to do with Amanthea!"

"Who's Amanthea?" Toadette asked.

"An evil sorceress who took over Equine not too long ago," Harliman said.

"And she is beyond evil," Violet said. "She steals youth!"

"How does she do that?" Luigi asked.

"She takes it from the children," Harliman said. "She has complete control over them."

"That's horrible!" the Princess shouted.

"What happens to the bambinos afterward?" Mario asked.

"No one knows for sure," Wildfire replied. "We don't even know how she does it. All we do know is that once she's done here, she'll move on, and steal the youth from the children in other worlds, too. Maybe even in the Mushroom Kingdom."

"Well, let me talk it over with my friends and get back to ya," Mario said.

"What kind of people will we be if we don't help?" the Princess asked.

"Not to mention they said that this sorceress might come to the Mushroom Kingdom," Toad said.

"And take the youth from the kids," Toadette said. "We _have _to help!"

"But how?" Luigi asked.

"We'll think of something," Mario said.

The others nodded. Our heroes then broke from the huddle, and turned to Harliman and the horses.

"We'll do it," Mario said. "I don't know how, but we'll do it."

Blueberry and Violet whinnied happily. Unknown to them, however, they were being watched through the crystal ball of the evil sorceress, Amanthea. She was sitting on her thrown, petting what looked like a ball of fuzz with two eyes, and a bulbous nose.

"So Harliman and those horses think they can best me, do they?" she asked herself. "Bringing in outsiders. Ha! As if they can do anything! Those horses will become part of my plan, and then I shall have eternal youth forever!"

Meanwhile, Harliman and the horses led the group through their village. It wasn't a bad looking place.

"So where does this Amanthea live?" Toadette asked.

"Over on the other side of the valley," Blueberry said. "We'll show you."

Blueberry and Violet led the way, and stopped at the foot of a hill.

"It's that castle up on the hill," Violet whispered.

The other side of the valley was dark, dank, and dreary. It seemed lightning flashed when they saw the old castle on the hill.

"Nice touch," Toad said.

"Let's split," Luigi said.

Apparently, the others had the same idea. They ran back to the village, but only for the time being. After all, they didn't want to just storm the castle without a plan of attack.

"I think I may have an idea," Mario said. "First of all, we split up and find out what she's up to. Then we fake it from there."

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard," Toad said. "But it's the only idea we've got. Let's try it."

Mario, Toad, and the Princess went in one direction, while Luigi and Toadette went in another. Harliman stayed in the village with Wildfire. Blueberry and Violet went off on their own. Apparently, Amanthea was ready for the horses.

"Ahh," she said. "The two essentials for my master plan! Come, my pet. It is time for us to get the children."

Meanwhile, Mario, the Princess, and Toad were wandering around a part of a dark forest.

"Boy does this place give me the creeps!" Toad shouted. "I wonder where everybody is."

"I don't know," Mario said. "But look over there!"

Mario, the Princess, and Toad watched as a group of little kids ran to a young woman carrying a small, furry, creature.

"Come, children," she said. "The carousel is almost complete. All we need is one more horse."

Mario, the Princess, and Toad looked at each other and then ran back to the village. Once they arrived, they reported on what they saw.

"And some woman said something about a carousel almost being complete," the Princess said.

"Was it Amanthea?" Wildfire asked.

"I don't know," Toad said. "I don't know what she looks like."

"What did this woman look like?" Harliman asked.

"Well, she was tall," Mario said. "Very pretty. She had green eyes, but we didn't see what color hair she had. She was wearing this weird hood thing. And she had this little fuzzy thing. She carried it around and all the children flocked around her."

"That's Amanthea all right," Wildfire said. "And she must be up to no good."

"Hey, did Luigi and Toadette come back yet?" Toad asked.

"Not yet," Harliman said. "I figured they're still gathering information. Blueberry and Violet must be with them."

"What do you mean?" Wildfire asked.

"Shortly after Mario and his friends went searching for what Amanthea might be up to, a strange flute began playing," Harliman said. "I didn't think much of it, but Blueberry and Violet ran off once it started playing. I assume they left to find either you, Mario, or your brother."

"Somehow, I don't think so, dude," Toad said.

"We'd better go look for them," Mario said. "Let's go!"

Meanwhile, Luigi and Toadette were looking around another part of the valley, away from the castle. They noticed some children playing around the field. Behind them was a colorful carousel. That seemed to bring the only light in the valley.

"Come on, Luigi!" Toadette shouted. "Let's get a closer look!"

"I don't know if that's such a good . . . ." Luigi started. Unfortunately (for him), Toadette was already running for the carousel, and Luigi had to follow her, to make sure she didn't get into trouble.

Before Luigi and Toadette could reach the carousel, flute music suddenly filled the air. The two of them stopped, and listened, wondering where it was coming from. They heard galloping coming toward them, and ducked behind a tree, just in case trouble was coming. Thankfully, it wasn't. Wildfire suddenly galloped into view, but he looked strange. He looked like he was in some kind of trance. The children all flocked around him, staring and murmuring in awe.

"Let's take him the Lady," one said. The other children agreed, and ran off.

This gave Luigi and Toadette a chance to check things out. Luigi walked over to Wildfire, and tried to get his attention.

"Yo, Wildfire!" he shouted, waving his hand in front of the horse's face. "You awake? Come on, snap out of it!"

While Luigi was trying to get Wildfire to wake up, Toadette walked up to the carousel. There all kinds of horses in an entire rainbow of color combinations, like yellow with blue mane, green with purple mane, yellow with white mane, blue with blue mane, and purple with purple mane.

"Wait a minute," she said, suddenly. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say these two were Blueberry and Violet."

"What?" Luigi asked, walking onto the carousel. "You're right, Toadette. These two horses do look exactly like Blueberry and Violet. It's uncanny!"

"I'm getting a kind of spooky feeling, Luigi," Toadette said, nervously. "I don't think these are just wooden carousel horses. I think they might actually _be_ Blueberry and Violet."

"Toadette, that's impossible! Isn't it?"

As Luigi was contemplating this, he and Toadette heard someone coming. They ducked down, and hid underneath a couple of the horses.

"So why did you children bring me out to the field?" a woman's voice asked.

"We found a horse, Lady," one of the children said. "It's a really pretty one."

"Perfect for the top of the merry-go-round!" another shouted.

"Hey," Luigi whispered. "You think that could be the evil sorceress?"

"Could be," Toadette said. "She certainly _looks_ evil."

Indeed, "the Lady" was Amanthea. She was following the children to the carousel. The children were giggling and petting Wildfire. The horse didn't even notice Amanthea approaching him.

"Ah, this _is_ a beautiful horse," Amanthea said. "Perfect for the carousel."

Amanthea touched Wildfire once and he froze. Then she spread her hands apart and vines wrapped around Wildfire and hoisted him in place.

"The carousel is finally completed!" she shouted.

The children cheered and began running for the carousel. Luigi and Toadette tried to sneak off of it before they were spotted. Unfortunately, Luigi banged his knee against one of the horses.

"Yeouch!" he shouted. Immediately, Toadette jumped up, and covered his mouth with her hand.

"Shhhh!" she hissed. "They might hear us!"

Luckily, the children didn't pay any attention. They were beginning to climb onto the carousel, but Amanthea stopped them.

"Not yet, children," she said. "The carousel may be complete, but it's not ready yet. You run along and play, and I will let you know when the carousel is ready."

The children groaned, and left the area. Luigi and Toadette figured that was as good a time as any to beat a hasty retreat. They were just about to climb off, when suddenly, the carousel started up, and began spinning at an alarmingly fast pace. Luigi and Toadette grabbed the poles for support before they flew off. Suddenly, the carousel stopped, and Luigi was flung off of it. Luckily, Toadette managed to stay on. She hid behind one of the larger horses, and didn't move a muscle.

"Well, well, well," Amanthea said, approaching the green-clad plumber. "What do we have here? A spy?"

"Uhh, no, ma'am," Luigi said, nervously. "I was just . . . . I mean, I, uhhh . . . ."

"Silence! I know you're not from around here. Your appearance gives you away entirely. Harliman must have found a way to reach help from another world. No matter. You won't be telling anyone about what you've seen here."

Amanthea waved her hands. Beams of light appeared from out of nowhere, and wrapped themselves around Luigi's chest, knees, and ankles. No matter how hard he struggled, he couldn't break free.

"I don't think you'll be going anywhere for quite some time," Amanthea said, with an evil laugh.

Toadette crept off the carousel as quietly as she could. She didn't want to get Amanthea's attention, and she knew she couldn't fight the sorceress by herself. She had to get the others, and fast.


	4. The Star Crystal

"Well, we've looked everywhere," Mario said. "And there's no sign of Blueberry, or Violet."

"And it looks like we lost Wildfire, too," the Princess said.

"Maybe they're in Amanthea's territory," Harliman suggested. "And if they are, they could be in big trouble!"

"I'm in agreement," Toad said. "That lady looked like bad news to me!"

"Hey, where are Luigi and Toadette?" Mario asked. "They should have been back by now, too!"

"Here comes somebody," the Princess said, pointing in the distance.

In a blur of pink, Toadette came racing to the group. She ran directly into Toad, and knocked him off his feet.

"Hey, watch where you're going, Toadette!" he shouted.

"Toadette, where's Luigi?" the Princess asked.

"He's in trouble!" Toadette shouted. Then she started talking a mile a minute. "We were at this huge carousel, and there were lots and lots of horses, and two of them looked like Blueberry and Violet . . . . and I think they _were_ Blueberry and Violet, and Wildfire showed up . . . . and all these kids and this lady froze him and put him on the carousel, and then she told the kids they couldn't get on, and she spun it around and Luigi flew off, and now she's got Luigi, and I think that lady is Amanthea!"

"What?" Toad asked, confused. "Think you can say that again so it makes sense, Toadette?"

"Amanthea's got Luigi!" Toadette shouted, getting right to the point.

"What?!" Mario shouted. "Come on, everybody! Lead the way, Toadette!"

Toadette led the way to the carousel. Nobody wanted to go into Amanthea's territory, but now they didn't have much of a choice. As they were approaching the carousel, Toadette heard something coming.

"Get down!" she whispered suddenly, ducking behind a bush. Mario, the Princess, and Toad followed.

"What's the matter?" Mario asked.

"It's her!" Toadette said.

Mario dared to look. It was Amanthea, and she was leading a flock of children toward the carousel.

"Come, children," she said. "The carousel is ready for you now."

"I think we're about to find out what happens to the kids when they get their youth stolen," Mario whispered.

Amanthea started the carousel. Horrible music filled the air. Mario, the Princess, and the two Toads cringed. Of course, to the children, the music was like regular carousel music. Suddenly, the sky turned gray. Amanthea held a crystal ball in the air. Thunder clapped and a bright light rose from the carousel to the crystal ball. Once the carousel stopped, the children slowly flew off and landed gently on the ground, standing in a zombie like trance.

"Ha ha!" Amanthea laughed. "It works! I can get twice as much energy as before! I will be invincible! Now to prepare the spell to send this to the outside world!"

Amanthea walked off laughing. Mario, the Princess, and the Toads waited until she was out of sight. They ran to the children and tried to get their attention.

"Hey, bambinos!" Mario shouted. "Wake up, come on! Rise and shine!"

"No use," Toad said, snapping his fingers in front of a boy's face. "They're gone."

"We've got to find a way to get these kids back to normal," the Princess said.

"A magical merry-go-round," Toad said. "What won't they think of next?"

"Never mind, Toad," the Princess said. "We've got more important things to do."

"Yeah, such as waking up these bambinos," Mario said, "and finding out where Amanthea's keeping Luigi."

As Toad was investigating the carousel, he heard something knock from inside of it.

"Yipe!" he shouted. "It's haunted!"

"It's not haunted!" Mario shouted. "Look, here's a door."

The plumber opened the door slowly. He gasped at what he saw behind it.

"Luigi!" he shouted.

"Hi, guys," Luigi said. He was chained to a pole in the middle of the carousel.

"Mama mia," Mario said. "How did you get like this, anyway?"

"Toadette and I witnessed the construction of the carousel," Luigi explained. "This is why the horses have been disappearing. Amanthea has been capturing them in order to make this thing."

"To steal the children's energy," the Princess said, using a hairpin to unlock the chains.

"Yeah, all the kids around here are zombies," Toad explained.

"And now she's gonna send it to the outside world," the Princess said, finally unlocking the chains.

"Wherever _that_ is," Toad said.

"That probably means the Mushroom Kingdom!" the Princess gasped.

"We can't let that happen!" Mario shouted. "But the question is how to stop her. Anybody got any ideas?"

"Well, maybe if we can figure out the source of her power," Toadette suggested, "we could destroy that or something."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Toad said.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Mario asked. "Let's go!"

The first thing our heroes did was go back to the village, in order to get some more information. After all, they didn't know what was the source of Amanthea's power, and there was no way to destroy it if they didn't know what it was.

"Unfortunately," Harliman said, "I'm not sure what the source of her power is, either."

"Well, that was a bust," Toad sighed.

"Isn't there anything else we can do that will defeat Amanthea?" Mario asked.

"Perhaps," Harliman replied. "Yes. Yes, I can give you the one thing that can defeat her."

"Great!" Mario shouted. "What is it?"

"The magic Star Crystal," Harliman replied. "It has magic powers equal to Amanthea. But there is only one drawback."

"What's that?" the Princess asked.

"It can only be used and reach it's full power by one person and one person only," Harliman continued.

"How will we know who gets to use the crystal?" Luigi asked.

"I'll show you," Harliman said.

Harliman led our heroes to an underground cavern. It was so dark, you could barely see your hand in front of your face. Things started to get darker until Harliman opened a door. Then a bright light filled the room. Toad pulled out a pair of sunglasses and put them on.

"This, my friends, is the Star Crystal," Harliman said.

"It sure is bright!" Luigi shouted, holding his hand above his eyes, to shade them.

"You'll get used to it in a moment," Harliman said. Soon, the light dimmed, and the group saw a star-shaped crystal sitting on a rock.

"Now, one of you try and grab it," Harliman said.

Princess Toadstool decided to go first. She tried to grab it, but the crystal jumped out of the way, and bounced off the top of her head.

"Ouch!" she shouted.

"Next," Harliman said.

Toad took a deep breath and started to sneak up on the crystal. Then he jumped on it.

"BANZAI!" he shrieked. The crystal dodged, and Toad flew into the wall.

"Next," Harliman said.

Luigi bit his lower lip and grabbed the crystal in his hands. It let out an electric shock.

"Aaaahhhhhh!" Luigi screamed, and immediately let go of the crystal.

"Next," Harliman replied.

Mario took a deep breath and walked toward the crystal. He noticed a tapestry on the wall.

"Well, it's worth a shot," he said. He ripped the tapestry off the wall and jumped on the crystal. Unfortunately, it ripped out from the bottom of it and bounced off his head.

"Smart aleck," he growled.

"Now what do we do?" Luigi asked.

"I don't know," Toadette said, picking up the crystal. "If none of you guys can touch the crystal, I don't see how we're gonna . . . . why are you guys looking at me like that?"

"I don't believe it," Mario said.

"What?" Toadette asked.

"She is the all powerful," Harliman said.

"_Me_?!" Toadette practically squeaked.

"_Her_?!" Toad shouted. "But she's a girl!"

"It doesn't matter," Harliman said. "Girl or not, the crystal deems Toadette the all powerful."

"Funny," Luigi said. "I thought for sure it'd be Mario!"

"Yeah, it's almost _always_ Mario who's the chosen one!" Toad shouted.

"So, how does this thing work?" Toadette asked.

"I admit, I have no idea," Harliman said. "The myth behind it states it can only be powered with the power within."

"Power within?" the Princess asked.

"This sounds like something out of a bad fantasy movie," Toad said.

Harliman led our heroes back to the surface. Suddenly, smoke filled the room. Everybody began to cough and visibility was almost zero.

"Hey, who threw the smoke bomb?!" Mario shouted, coughing.

Toad ran to the window and opened it to let the smoke run out. Once it cleared, he gasped. Amanthea was standing there in front of our heroes.

"It's her!" the Princess shouted.

"Amanthea!" Harliman shouted.

"You are correct, sir!" Amanthea shouted. Then she walked toward Toadette.

"Give me that crystal, little girl," Amanthea said, in a syrupy sweet voice.

"Don't give it to her!" Luigi shouted. "Whatever you do, Toadette, don't give it to her!"

Amanthea looked over at Luigi and glared at him. Then she grabbed him by the front of his shirt, and waved her other hand over his face. Luigi went completely limp as he lost consciousness.

"Luigi!" the Princess gasped.

"You leave my brother alone!" Mario shouted.

"Oh, I will," Amanthea said. "As soon as the little girl gives me the crystal."

"Never!" Toadette shouted, holding the crystal tightly to her chest.

"Fine," Amanthea said, as she hoisted Luigi underneath her arm. "If that's the way you want it, then I guess your friend is coming with me. And you'll never see him again unless I get the crystal!"

"You can't do that!" Mario shouted.

"Oh yes, I can," Amanthea said. "I've had practice for some time now. Bye!"

Amanthea snapped her fingers, sprouted wings, and flew through the roof. More smoke followed, as she disappeared.

"Now what do we do?!" Toad shouted, coughing like crazy.

"We follow her, that's what!" Mario shouted. "I'm not gonna let her get away with this!"


	5. Rescue Fail

Amanthea flew back to her castle. Luigi stirred on the way. He opened his eyes and saw he was at least a hundred feet in the air.

"I must be dreaming," he said.

"Oh, you're not dreaming," Amanthea said. "This is for real."

Amanthea reached her castle and flew into the throne room. Her wings disappeared and she dropped Luigi on the floor. Luigi groaned and rubbed his forehead. He looked up at Amanthea.

"What do you want from me, anyway?" he asked, standing up.

"I'm still not thrilled with you seeing my carousel," she said. "And if that mushroom girl figures out how to use that crystal, I'm sunk. I hope you weren't planning anything for awhile, because you aren't leaving here for quite some time. Unless the mushroom girl gives me the Star Crystal."

"Which she won't."

"Then you're not going anywhere."

Amanthea went to her mirror and began preening. Luigi just watched her, looking at her as if she were crazy.

"What's with you and eternal youth, anyway?" he asked.

"When you're born with a pretty face, you have to work hard to keep it pretty," Amanthea said. She moved to a smaller crystal ball that had beams of energy circling it. "And where else do I get eternal youth than from children?"

Luigi eyed a tapestry on the wall. He figured he would throw it over Amanthea and make his getaway. He ripped it down from the wall and snuck up behind her. However, Amanthea figured he'd try something, so she turned the tables on him. She snapped her fingers and the tapestry wound itself around the plumber, tightly, with only his head and feet protruding from either end. He writhed to break free, but Amanthea had him trapped. She threw him against the wall, head first. He slunk to the floor and groaned.

"As I was saying," Amanthea said, "once I gain my eternal youth, I will control the world."

"I see," Luigi said, still struggling to free himself.

"And the carousel will capture the energy of the children of the entire world to power me. Once the children of your world see the carousel, they will get on and the hypnotic music will drive them to it. The energy goes to my crystal and stays there. And the crystal is what keeps the horses frozen."

"You won't get away with this, you know that don't you?"

"Ha! I already have!"

Amanthea snapped her fingers, and Luigi was levitated off the floor. Amanthea then left her throne room, with the tapestry following after her.

"As for you," she said, "I'm going to see to it that you don't escape again!"

Meanwhile, our heroes were on a dark path, heading for Amanthea's castle. Toadette had to keep the light from the crystal toned down or else Amanthea might spot them through her castle.

"I don't know if this is such a good idea," Toad said. "What if she finds us?"

"We'll just have to risk it," Mario said. "It's the only way to save Luigi. Not to mention the horses of Equine, and kids of the world."

"Let's just hope she hasn't moved that carousel of hers to our world yet," the Princess said.

"It's getting darker," Toad said. "We need a flashlight!"

"I'll have to use the crystal," Toadette said, taking her hands away from it. A light filled the forest, and the group managed to see the castle in the distance.

"There it is," Harliman said. "Amanthea's castle."

"I just know she's got Luigi locked up in there somewhere!" Mario shouted.

Toadette stared up at the castle. She thought she saw a shadow in the tower window. She aimed the crystal's light up to it. She couldn't see much, but she was able to make out someone wearing green inside the tower.

"I think he might be up there," she said, pointing toward the tower window. "But I'm not sure."

"Luigi!" Mario called. "Hey, Luigi, can you hear me?"

Luigi heard Mario call, and tried to get up to get to the window. In order to keep him from escaping, Amanthea had chained him to the wall by his wrists. Luckily, he was able to get close enough to the window to see his brother and his friends.

"Boy, am I glad to see you guys!" he shouted.

"Don't worry, bro!" Mario called. "We'll get you out of there!"

"How?" Toad asked. "We have to get up there first, and I don't see any staircase."

"I'd use a magic feather, but I didn't bring one," Mario said. "Not to mention no question blocks, either."

"This is going to be a lot harder than we thought," the Princess said.

Suddenly, the Star Crystal's light began to get smaller. It began flashing slowly as well. It soon became what looked like a flashlight beam, focused on the bricks on the tower wall. Toadette began moving the crystal along the bricks, until the crystal began flashing faster and faster. Toadette pushed the brick that the crystal's light was focusing on, and a door opened.

"Hey, how about that?" Mario asked. "A secret tunnel!"

"And I'll bet it leads right up to the tower!" the Princess shouted.

"Any guards watching the door, Luigi?" Mario asked.

"No," Luigi said. "But it's an iron door and it might be hard to open."

"We'll manage!" Mario shouted. "Don't worry! We'll be up in two shakes of a calamari's tail!"

The gang ran through the tunnel, and up a flight of stairs. Sure enough, the secret tunnel led right to the tower door. The Princess took her hairpin and immediately began fiddling with the lock. Once she got it open, the group ran inside, and the Princess immediately began fiddling with the locks restraining Luigi to the wall.

"Thanks guys," Luigi said. "Now we've got to stop Amanthea before it's too late."

"Correction," a voice said. "It's already too late."

Everyone turned around, and found Amanthea standing there, glaring at them all.

"Everybody scatter!" Toad shouted. "It'll be harder to catch us if we're all running in different directions."

The group all ran off in separate directions, but Amanthea managed to grab Toadette by her arm.

"Don't be afraid, sweetheart," she said, in a patronizing tone. "Just give me the Star Crystal, and I won't hurt you."

"But . . . . but Harliman told me not to," Toadette said, grasping the crystal tightly.

"Give me that crystal right now, little girl!" she shouted. "If you don't, I'll take your youth from you!"

Amanthea tightened her grip, and a strange glow began to run up Toadette's arm. Before it could go any farther, a wrench came flying from out of nowhere, and hit Amanthea in the hand. She screamed and let go of the pigtailed Toad.

"Where did that come from?" Toadette asked.

"Me," Luigi said, "Come on, Toadette, let's get outta here!"

Toadette immediately took off running. Luigi was about to follow her, when Amanthea grabbed his hand.

"Oh no you don't!" she shouted, turning him to face her. Then she grabbed his other hand, practically crushing his fingers. "I'll teach you to meddle in my affairs!"

"Let me go!" Luigi shouted, struggling to pull out of her grip.

"I don't think so," Amanthea said. "I'll get my eternal youth from those children if it's the last thing I do!"

"Oh no you won't!" Mario shouted, holding up a wrench. "You let my brother go, or else!"

"Or else what?" Amanthea asked, getting a little impatient.

Mario threw his wrench at Amanthea, but she dodged it, and caught it as it flew by. Then she smirked at Mario, and hurled it back at him.

"Uh oh!" Mario shouted. Before he had a chance to duck the wrench, it beaned him in the head, and knocked him unconscious.

"Mario!" Luigi shouted.

"So much for him," Amanthea said, snapping her fingers and levitating Mario off the floor. "Now there's no one to stop me!"

Amanthea dragged Luigi to the throne room, while Mario floated behind her. Toadette saw the whole thing, since she was hiding behind the tower door. Immediately, she raced down the stairs and through the secret entrance they found earlier.

"What took you so long?" Toad asked.

"Amanthea captured both Luigi, and Mario," Toadette explained. "And she's gonna get the energy from the kids back home now!"

"The only thing that can stop her now is the Star Crystal," Harliman said.

"We'd better find a way to use it," the Princess said.

"Yeah," Toad agreed, "or the entire youth of today is doomed!"


	6. Finale

Amanthea stood at her energy crystal, waving her hands around it. She had Mario and Luigi tied up in a corner, with their hands secured quite tightly behind their backs. Amanthea looked at them struggling to break loose, and smirked.

"Not so tough when you're restrained, are you, tubby?" she asked Mario.

"Just wait until we get outta here," Mario said. "Then you're gonna be sorry!"

"Oh come now!" Amanthea scoffed. "You'd never hit a woman! You don't seem like the type!"

"Maybe not," Mario said, "but Princess Toadstool and Toadette might rough you up a little!"

Amanthea shook her head and walked back to her energy crystal. Both Mario and Luigi stopped struggling for a moment and looked at the crystal themselves.

"Hey, Mario," Luigi whispered. "You think that crystal ball could be the source of Amanthea's power?"

"Could be," Mario said. "All we've got to do is find a way to break it."

"Yeah, but we've got to get loose first."

The Bros. continued to watch as Amanthea waved her hands, and her carousel was transported to the park in the Mushroom Kingdom. The music started to play, and the carousel started to spin. She saw in her viewing crystal several Toad children running to it.

"We've gotta do something fast, Mario!" Luigi whispered fiercely. "If she takes the youth from the Mushroom Kingdom's kids, who's to say she won't hit Brooklyn next?"

"I know, Luigi, I know," Mario said. "Wait a minute! I've got it! There's a small hacksaw in my back pocket. See if you can get it!"

Both Mario and Luigi shifted positions a bit. It took a bit of wriggling, but Luigi managed to pull the hacksaw from Mario's pocket. Mario immediately began to rub the ropes binding his hands against the blade until he cut through them. From there, he was able to pull one of his arms free, and untie himself. Then he untied Luigi.

"Okay," Luigi said, rubbing his wrists. "Now what?"

"Now we take care of Amanthea's crystal ball," Mario said. "Got another wrench on ya?"

"Always do," Luigi said, pulling out his trusty backup wrench, and handing it to Mario.

Mario took the wrench, adjusted his cap, and wound up like a baseball player. Then he threw the wrench as hard as he could into Amanthea's energy crystal. It shattered into a million pieces.

"My youth!" Amanthea shouted. "No!"

"Sorry 'bout that," Mario said, slyly. "Next time, don't mess with a couple of well-equipped plumbers!"

Mario and Luigi ran to the window, and waved to the others. Amanthea didn't take any notice. She was too busy worrying about her crystal.

"Looks like the Mario Brothers handled everything in there," Harliman said.

"Great," Toadette said. "But remember, Harliman, you said there was only one way to defeat Amanthea and that was to use the Star Crystal, but I don't know how it works!"

"Give it time, my dear," Harliman said. "You will learn."

"Hey guys!" Mario called. "We've got some problems!"

"What kind of problems?" the Princess asked.

"Well, the kids and the horses are still under her spell, even though the energy crystal has been smashed!" Mario shouted.

"We may have to defeat her entirely before the spell on them is broken," Luigi said.

"Yeah," Mario agreed. "But how are we gonna . . . ."

Before Mario could finish his sentence, he felt something grab him by the back of the overalls, and lift him off the ground. It was Amanthea, and she was not at all happy.

"You stole my eternal youth!" she shouted.

"Those are the breaks," Mario said, trying to break free of her grip. It wasn't working.

"I'll get my eternal youth if it's the last thing I do!" she shouted. "Since I can't get it from the children in your world, I'll just take your life force instead!"

Amanthea put Mario down, and pressed on his shoulders. A bright light filled the air. The others gasped. Mario groaned as he felt his life force drain from him.

"No! Stop!" Luigi shouted. He raced toward Amanthea, and grabbed her arm, and tried to pull her off his brother.

"Leave my brother alone, you . . . . you witch!" he shouted.

"Get off of me, you little worm!" Amanthea shouted, flinging Luigi off her arm. Luigi bashed his head against the wall, hard enough to daze him, but not hard enough to knock him out.

"We've gotta get up there!" Toad shouted.

"Come on!" the Princess shouted, leading the way toward the secret door the group had found earlier. "There's not a moment to lose!"

Toad, Toadette, and Harliman raced after the Princess, and tried to get to the throne room before Amanthea could finished draining Mario. Unfortunately, they were too late. Amanthea was finished sucking the life out of the red-clad plumber, just as they reached the throne room. He dropped to the floor like a puppet with it's strings broken.

"Oh no!" the Princess shouted. "We're too late!"

"No!" Luigi shouted. He grabbed his brother by his shoulders and began shaking them. "Mario!Please, Mario, please wake up!"

Mario was completely unresponsive. When Luigi realized this, he began crying.

"Don't worry, Luigi," the Princess said, attempting to console the green-clad plumber. "We'll think of something."

"Like what?" Toad asked.

"Well, you still have the Star Crystal," Harliman said.

"But I don't know how it works!" Toadette shouted.

"You don't know how it works?!" Amanthea shouted. "Oh this will be _too_ easy!"

Amanthea started zapping right and left. One beam hit the crystal. The beam bounced back and hit the wall. A hole was blasted in it. Amanthea growled and set another beam out in the path of Luigi, the Princess, Harliman, and the two Toads, but they kept dodging her blasts. Amanthea was getting pretty darn sick and tired of it all.

"Okay," she said. "That's it. I give up! You win!"

"Hey, that was easy," Toad said.

"A little _too_ easy if you ask me," the Princess said. "I get the feeling she's up to something."

Amanthea looked at our heroes, and smirked. She snapped her fingers, and a hole opened in the ceiling. Then she sprouted her wings and flew through the hole.

"What in the world is she _do_ing?!" Toad shouted.

"I don't know," the Princess said, "but I don't like it!"

Suddenly, Amanthea came swooping down at our heroes. She managed to grab Luigi by the arms, and flew back through the hole in the ceiling.

"Luigi!" Toadette gasped.

"Help!" Luigi yelled.

Amanthea cackled madly, and flew to the highest tower of her castle, and hovered in the air.

"All of you surrender or I drop your friend!" she shouted.

"All right," Toadette said, getting pretty fed up with this whole mess. "No more Miss Nice Girl!"

Toadette held the Star Crystal up and closed his eyes, wishing and hoping something would happen. Slowly, the glow from the crystal started to take over her body. First, her hands started to glow, then her arms, and so on and so on. The others were amazed, though Toad began to panic.

"I've got to help her!" he shouted.

"No, you can not," Harliman said, grabbing Toad's arm.

"Why not?" Toad asked. "Toadette looks like she needs help!"

"This is her fight alone," Harliman said. "The only one who can defeat Amanthea is the one who holds the Star Crystal."

Th glow now fully covered Toadette. Amanthea was unamused. She dropped Luigi on the roof of the tower and shot a beam at Toadette. A beam flew from the Star Crystal and hit Amanthea's, holding it back.

"I won't give up my youth that easily!" Amanthea shouted.

"I won't let you steal anymore youth from innocent children!" Toadette yelled. "And I'm not gonna let you hurt my friends, either! It's time you were stopped!"

"Atta girl, Toadette!" Toad shouted.

Toadette aimed the crystal at Amanthea, and gave her a good zap, causing her wings to disappear. This of course caused her and Luigi to fall. Toadette caught Luigi in a beam and lowered him to the ground as gently as possible. Amanthea landed with a thud.

"You little . . ." she growled. "I think I'll take your youth, and your friends' life forces as well!"

"I don't think so," Toadette said. She aimed the crystal and blasted a beam at Amanthea. The sorceress groaned and tried to resist the beam.

"No!" Amanthea shouted, realizing Toadette was taking away her youth. "No, no! Stop! I'm aging! No! NO!"

Soon Amanthea became an old hag, but it didn't stop there. She grew older, and older, until there was nothing left of her, but a pile of dust. The children in both Equine, and the Mushroom Kingdom, were broken from their trances and the horses returned to normal. The frame of the carousel collapsed. Everyone at the park just stared. They couldn't believe when they were seeing. The horses all looked at each other for a moment, and then galloped off on the train tracks, making their way back to Equine. All that was left now was to figure out what to do about Mario, who was still laying in a lifeless heap.

"Isn't there anything you can do for him, Harliman?" Luigi asked.

"No, I'm sorry," Harliman said. "We may have broken the spell for the children, but when Amanthea takes the life force of an adult, well . . . there's nothing anyone can do."

Luigi buried his face in his hands, and began crying. The Princess, Toad, and Toadette felt like crying as well. They didn't know what else they could do. Then Toadette realized she was still holding the Star Crystal.

"It's worth a shot," she said. "Now, let me see . . ."

Toadette placed the Star Crystal on Mario's chest and pressed her hand on it, and it started glowing. At that moment, Mario's body began to glow along with the crystal. Everyone waited, nervously. Finally, once the glow subsided, Mario's eyes opened slowly.

"Mario?" Luigi asked. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Mario said. "Or I will be once I get some spaghetti. I'm starved!"

Everybody laughed and and began celebrating as they went back to Equine.

"We are eternally grateful to you all," Harliman said. "Thanks to all of you, we are finally free."

"What will happen to Amanthea's castle?" the Princess asked.

"I think I can take care of that," Toadette said. She concentrated hard, and blasted the castle with the Star Crystal. When the glow subsided this time, the castle was replaced by a carousel that looked exactly like the one Amanthea had made.

"Wow," Blueberry said. "It's unbelievable!"

"It's incredible!" Violet shouted.

"I thought the kids here deserved a carousel to ride on," Toadette said. "After all, Amanthea promised them a carousel, and they got one."

"Yeah," Toad said. "Too bad we can't see how they like it. We've got to spilt."

"Wait a minute!" Luigi shouted. "The train! We crashed it, remember?"

"Don't worry, I'll take care of that, too," Toadette said. She aimed the Star Crystal at the train wreck, and a bright glow filled the area. When it subsided, the train was on a track, good as new, and ready to return the the Mushroom Kingdom.

"Great!" Mario said. "Nice work, Toadette!"

"Come on, guys," Toad said. "Let's get this train on the track!"

Everyone boarded the train, ready to get back to the Mushroom Kingdom. Before Toadette boarded, she handed the Star Crystal to Harliman. Since Amanthea had been defeated, it was no longer bound to Toadette.

"I think this belongs here," she said.

"No," Harliman said, handing it back to Toadette. "You keep it. It belongs to you now."

"Really?" Toadette asked. "Well, thanks. I'll be sure to only use it in an emergency."

"Thank you for all you've done, Toadette," Wildfire said.

"Oh, I didn't do much. It was the crystal mostly."

"Would you like to know a secret? But you must promise not to tell anyone."

"I promise."

"The crystal's power lies within. It's power comes from one source."

"What?"

"The heart. The crystal's main power is the power of love. And it was the power of love that helped you restore Mario life."

"Thanks, Wildfire."

"Thank _you_, Toadette. You've done more than you realized."

"All aboard!" Mario yelled. Toadette ran to the train, and got on board. Everyone waved and called their goodbyes, as Mario put the train in gear, and drove down the tracks, and back to the park.

"Nobody is going to believe this story!" Toadette

"I think that whole thing was pretty unbelievable, myself," Luigi said.

"I wonder what will happen to that darn fountain that got us into this mess anyway?" Toad asked.

Suddenly, the fountain that carried the rubber ball our heroes had followed turned into a carousel that looked exactly like the one Amanthea's castle turned into. The carousel started to spin, and it played a sweet melody.

"I think this is Harliman and the horses's way of thanking us for our help," the Princess said.

"After what we've been through, I say we deserve it," Mario said, picking up Toadette and balancing her on his shoulder. "Don't you think, Toadette?"

"I couldn't agree more, Mario!" Toadette shouted.

The End


End file.
